A standard-issue "screwball comedy" of the 1930s,
Four's a Crowd starred a quartet of Warner Bros' biggest stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia DeHavilland, Rosalind Russell and Patric Knowles. Flynn plays a publicity agent hired to stir up "good press" for a nasty millionaire (Walter Connolly). Errol accomplishes this by going back to his old job as editor of a newspaper owned by Knowles, then using the paper to elucidate Connolly's virtues. Along the way, he romances Olivia de Havilland, who plays Connolly's daughter, and Rosalind Russell, portraying--surprise, surprise--Knowles' star reporter. Much to the amazement of the audience, Flynn ends up not with his frequent costar DeHavilland but with Russell. Fast-moving and chucklesome,
Four's a Crowd was nothing new; chances are it would never have been made had it not been for the success of the vaguely similar MGM comedy
Libelled Lady (36), which likewise had a quadruple-barreled starring lineup (Spencer Tracy, Jean Harlow,
William Powell and Myrna Loy).
